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Bell 206B Jet Ranger III, G-CVIP

Summary:

The pilot had carried out a short local area flight with three passengers. He decided to land at a private site and having checked the site for obstructions, he performed a normal approach into wind. At about 100 ft, the intermittent engine out audio tone was heard and the pilot entered autorotation. At about the same time, the pilot heard the steady tone of the low rotor RPM audio warning and saw the illuminated ROT LOW RPM caption on the CWP. He flared the helicopter whilst simultaneously checking the rate of descent with the collective lever. These control inputs were accompanied by a loud bang. The helicopter was landed and shutdown. The main rotor blades had contacted the tail pylon aft of the horizontal stabiliser severing the pylon.